2-year-old girl was playing with Doberman. Suddenly the dog snarled and rushed to the baby

The family was concerned when they realized he was behaving strangely towards the little girl, until they realized why.

In 2007, Khan the Doberman Pinscher had been rescued from a shelter by the Svillcic family. Just four days later, he would go on to become the family's hero.

As reported by Can Dogs Eat This, Khan and the Svillcic's 17-month-old daughter Charlotte had been playing outside in the garden of their Atherton, Australia, home, when he started to act aggressively.

When Khan was first rescued by the Doberling Boarding Kennels, the staff had to decide whether or not to put him down. He was in such a bad way, with broken ribs after being beaten and starved.

Fortunately for the Svillcic family, the Kennels had decided to try and save him. That day in the garden he started to try and push her away from where she was playing in the garden.

But what Charlotte and her mother, Catherine, had not seen, was a large King Brown snake sitting right near where the tot was playing, getting ready to strike. Khan was only trying to nudge her to safety.

As the snake went to strike, Khan decided to take drastic action.

“If I had not seen it with my own eyes I wouldn't have believed it,” she said. “Khan was concentrating, he kept trying to nudge her but it wasn’t working. He grabbed her by the nappy and threw her over his shoulder more than a metre.”

With Charlotte clear of the immediate danger, it was Khan instead that took the bite to his paw. The baby was shocked at what had just happened, but Khan screamed his pain as the snake sunk its fangs into his flesh.

Catherine quickly realized what had happened, and that the dog had likely just saved her little daughter's life.

Khan ran back into the house where he collapsed, and Catherine rushed him to the vet. There he was given a shot of antivenin, and the next morning he was able to eat a nice big breakfast again.

A snake expert later surmised that he had likely survived because the snake had not been able to inject too much venom into his paw. Had Charlotte been the one bitten, it would likely be a very different story.

While Khan was abused before the Svillcic's rescued him, Catherine has said that he will spend the rest of his life living in luxury thanks to his selfless act in saving her daughter.

“If Khan wants a gold bowl, Khan gets it. We owe him for the rest of his life,” she said.